Integrated AMR-enabled solid-state utility meter with highly optimized processing ASIC

Abstract

The present invention discloses a method and apparatus for implementing an AMR-enabled solid-state utility meter based on a highly optimized processing allocation-specific integrated circuit (ASIC.) When the present invention is applied, the resulting solid-sate utility meter achieves improved cost, size, and complexity compared to prior art meters.

1 . An apparatus for implementing an AMR-enabled solid-state utility meter comprising:
 a solid-state utility meter having at least one integrated measurement channel for measuring utility consumption, and   at least one communication channel for communicating said consumption data to remote clients.   
   
   
       2 . The apparatus for implementing an AMR-enabled solid-state utility meter according to  claim 1  wherein the at least one integrated measurement channel and the at least one communication channel are integrated onto the same printed circuit board. 
   
   
       3 . The apparatus for implementing an AMR-enabled solid-state utility meter according to  claim 2  wherein a single application specific integrated circuit is used. 
   
   
       4 . The apparatus for implementing an AMR-enabled solid-state utility meter according to  claim 3  wherein the application specific integrated circuit integrates the said at least one integrated measurement channel and said at least one communication channel into a single device. 
   
   
       5 . The apparatus for implementing an AMR-enabled solid-state utility meter according to  claim 4 , wherein the application specific integrated circuit integrates at least one analog-to-digital conversion circuit. 
   
   
       6 . The apparatus for implementing an AMR-enabled solid-state utility meter according to  claim 4 , wherein a single analog-to-digital converter is time multiplexed such that it digitizes signals from said at least one integrated measurement channel and said at least one communication channel. 
   
   
       7 . The apparatus for implementing an AMR-enabled solid-state utility meter according to  claim 4  that further includes an analog-to-digital converter circuit that has a programmable sample rate and a programmable resolution. 
   
   
       8 . The apparatus for implementing an AMR-enabled solid-state utility meter according to  claim 4  wherein the signal from said at least one integrated measurement channel are mixable with the signal from the at least one communication channel to form a single input to an analog-to-digital converter. 
   
   
       9 . The apparatus for implementing an AMR-enabled solid-state utility meter according to  claim 5  wherein the t least one analog-to-digital conversion circuit has a programmable sample rate and a programmable resolution to sufficient to effectively digitize the at least one signal from the said at least one integrated measurement channel when they are mixable with the at least one signal from the at least one communication channel to form the at least one analog-to-digital converter. 
   
   
       10 . The apparatus for implementing an AMR-enabled solid-state utility meter according to  claim 5  wherein the application specific integrated circuit integrates a processor core with sufficient processing bandwidth to process both the at least one integrated measurement channel and the at least one communication channel. 
   
   
       11 . The apparatus for implementing an AMR-enabled solid-state utility meter according to  claim 5  wherein the application specific integrated circuit integrates a processor core with sufficient processing bandwidth to process both the at least one integrated measurement channel and the at least one communication channel concurrently and/or in time multiplexed. 
   
   
       12 . The apparatus for implementing an AMR-enabled solid-state utility meter according to  claim 5  wherein the processor core receives the digitized mixed signal of the at least one integrated measurement channel and at least one communication channel and separates the digitized signal back into at least one measurement channel and at least one communication channel. 
   
   
       13 . The apparatus for implementing an AMR-enabled solid-state utility meter according to  claim 5  wherein the application specific integrated circuit integrates dedicated signal processing logic including at least one of a multiply and a accumulate circuit for processing data from the at least one integrated measurement channel. 
   
   
       14 . The apparatus for implementing an AMR-enabled solid-state utility meter according to  claim 5  wherein the application specific integrated circuit integrates a dedicated signal processing logic to perform physical interface processing on the data from the at least one communication channel. 
   
   
       15 . The apparatus for implementing an AMR-enabled solid-state utility meter according to  claim 5  wherein the application specific integrated circuit integrates a dedicated signal processing logic to perform media access control processing on the data from the at least one communication channel. 
   
   
       16 . The apparatus for implementing an AMR-enabled solid-state utility meter according to  claim 5  wherein the application specific integrated circuit integrates internal memory for storing operating programs for use with a measurement function associated with the at least one integrated measurement channel and a communication function associated with the at least one communication channel. 
   
   
       17 . The apparatus for implementing an AMR-enabled solid-state utility meter according to  claim 5  that further includes using the at least one communication channel to new, updated, or replacement programs into memory. 
   
   
       18 . The apparatus for implementing an AMR-enabled solid-state utility meter according to  claim 1  that further includes a method of performing the functions. 
   
   
       19 . The apparatus for implementing an AMR-enabled solid-state utility meter according to  claim 5  that further includes a method of performing the functions. 
   
   
       20 . The apparatus for implementing an AMR-enabled solid-state utility meter according to  claim 17  that further includes a method of performing the functions.